In June 2016, the Central Station Alarm Association voted to change its name to reflect changes in the industry it serves. This March, CSAA plans to officially change its name to The Monitoring Association. SDM recently spoke with CSAA’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Elizabeth Lasko, about what the change means and how the association arrived at this juncture.
SDM: What led to CSAA’s decision to make the change? Lasko: The vote was the result of more than a year’s work by leaders and members of the association. We found that our members are aggressively expanding into monitoring beyond security systems, and the use of the term “monitoring center” is growing as a result. We also confirmed that the term “central station” no longer has wide recognition outside our industry. Our industry is such a critical part of public safety — we want the public to know who we are.